Glendalough
Deep within the Wicklow Mountains, surrounded by steep mountain passes on each side, one of the most beautiful places in Ireland lies, Glendalough – The valley of the two lakes.
It is one of the most spectacular locations in Ireland and also my favourit one. Glendalough is located in County Wicklow, just about 90 minutes drive from Dublin City. It is a monastic city dating back to the 6th century. The Monastery, the cathedral , st. Kevin’s Cross and the Round Tower, which is the most recognizable structure around, they all are an important monastic monuments in Glendalough. With its more than 30 meters high, the Round Tower is one of the finest of its kind in Ireland. No wonder that thousands of visitors come to Glendalough from all parts of the world every year.
You can start hiking on the Wicklow Way, the most famous walk in Ireland, from Glendalough. It stretches over 130 kilometres from south Dublin to nearby County Carlow across the most beautiful countryside. Stunning array of natural beauty, made up of mixed woodlands with quiet country roads and Glenealo river in an open mountainside, that is “Gleann Dá Locha”, Glendalough – The valley of the two lakes.
Venice
Venice, a different world from the one we left behind the minute we stepped off the bus at Piazzale Roma. Magical city, truly one of the most surreal place on the earth. Nothing I had ever seen before.
The true magic of Venice is the architecture. The churches, the palazzos, the bridges, the piazzas…. the whole city offers spectacular and majestic buildings centuries old.
Rialto and Accadamia are the only two bridges that cross the Grand Canal and are both in the general vicinity of St Marks, at either of these two points you’re never too far from the heart of Venice.
Birthday Surprise…
It’s Thursday morning and I am not in work today. It’s my 30th birthday today and I’ve got the best birthday present ever. It’s from my fiancée Maja and it is a weekend in Venice. That was a big surprise for me this morning, because she had everything planned to the last detail and I had no idea whatsoever.
She didn’t tell me a word. Not even this morning. I woke up as usuall at 7:30 and get dressed for the work. Nothing seemed unusuall, because even she got dressed as we were going to work. We left the house at 8:00, heading to work like any other morning. On the way, Maja asked me if we’ll go for a nice breakfast this morning and I agrreed. Why not? We could be late today, it’s my birthday!!! So we went to our favourite coffee shop, just up the hill from our apartment. After we orderd our coffee and pastry, she pulled-out a birthday bag from her purse – my birthday present. And there it was… Flight ticket and hotel room for three nights in Venice. To my biggest surprise, the flight ticket were for today flight at 4:20 afternoon. I still coudn’t believe and checked the date again. It was there… we are leaving for Venice in just few hours…
I was speechless. I did not expect present like this and it has really took my breath away. But I was happy. This is the best present I have ever got and Maja was planning this since last summer. I had no idea at all. She managed to get two days off in work for us, without me even sense it. It must have been hard to keep it in silence that long. I am happy.
I have the best fiancée on the world…
Planning Permission
For the last 6 months we have been trying with my fiancée to apply for the planning permission to build the house back home. It is a very time consuming and stressful process, and because we are working abroad, we have hired a guy who will apply for the planning permission on our behalf. We have the construction blueprints done and we just need someone to submit it and go through the whole planning process. And I hate to rely on other people.
I have done as much as I could myself, but some of the issues are just impossible to deal with from abroad. I have also hired my schoolmate to prepare a water well project for us, which as he said would take a month to be done. At the end the water well project took him about three months. It wouldn’t be a problem at all, if he just called me and say it. Instead, I couldn’t even reach him on the phone for about a month and half. And that really annoyed me. I have called him almost every day, with no answer. We were stuck with no further progress as the water well was a last thing we needed. I was really closed to hire someone else. Fortunately, we have received the water well project just two weeks ago, and today everything should be passed to the city council for the planning process.
Fruit Smoothie
Colourful fruit and vegetables contain many of the vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals, that our body needs to maintain good health and energy. Many of the phytochemicals and other compounds that make fruit and vegetables such healthy for us, also give them their colour. There are many various compounds associated with the colour, so to make sure you get a wide range of them you need to eat fruit and vegetables of different colour every day. Fruit and vegetables are full of fiber, plus lots of vitamins and minerals, and because they’re low in calories, they make an important and healthy addition to any diet.
Scientific studies have shown that those who eat a lot of fruit and vegetables may have a lower risk of heart disease and some cancers. For this reason, health authorities recommend that you eat at least
5 portions of fruit and vegetables every day, doesn’t matter whether they’re fresh, tinned, frozen, cooked, juiced or dried. One of the popular and easy way to achieve 5 servings of fruit and vegetables, is by making Fruit/Vegetable Smoothie.
Specifically three or more servings of vegetables and two or more servings of fruit. The recommendation of five servings per day is a minimum requirement for good health. It is essential to eat at least five servings a day and ideal if you can eat from each colour group.
A serving of fruit or vegetables is about a handful and everyone uses their own hand, so a child’s serving will be smaller than an adults.
That is 5 A Day the colour way!
